Lawyer: NCAA, Nochimson yet to speak

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A lawyer for the man at the center of recruiting allegations against the University of Connecticut said Wednesday his client has not spoken to investigators.

UConn said in March it was working with the NCAA in investigating a report by Yahoo! Sports that former team manager Josh Nochimson helped guide basketball recruit Nate Miles to Connecticut, giving him lodging, transportation, meals and representation.

But more than eight months later, Nochimson's attorney, Matthew Leitman, told The Associated Press that his client has not spoken to anyone investigating the case.

"We've not been involved in anything," Leitman said. "We've been on the sidelines for everything."

Leitman said he was contacted months ago by a lawyer who inquired about speaking to Nochimson, but said he doesn't know for whom that person was working. Nochimson did not speak to that person.

"Josh has really just stayed out of it," he said. "My recollection is we haven't been asked [by the NCAA], and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

UConn spokesman Mike Enright declined to comment on the status of the investigation. NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said it is the organization's policy not to comment on any current, pending or potential investigations.

Attempts to reach Miles were not successful. He was cut last month by the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls Skyforce.

As a former team manager, Nochimson could be considered a representative of UConn's athletic interests by the NCAA and prohibited from having contact with Miles or giving him anything of value. Documents released by the school showed pages and pages of phone and text message correspondence between Nochimson and Miles.

The Yahoo report also alleged that UConn coaches exceeded limits on the number of phone calls that can be made to recruits during Miles' junior year of high school.

Miles was expelled from UConn in October, 2008 without ever playing a game for the Huskies after he was charged with violating a restraining order in a case involving a woman who claimed he assaulted her. He played last season for the College of Southern Idaho.